The cultural performance was fantastic. Gifted performers who merged culture and humour. Our tour guide Sissy brought the place alive with her wealth of knowledge and humour. A real must do.

Incredibly well maintained and operated. I’ve been three times and still learn. There is an exceptional cafe . All the staff are friendly and helpful. The Maori performance is a must.

A really great experience for me and my wife. Will bring more family back up next time. Every New Zealander must visit at some point.

An essential destination for all New Zealanders. Take your time to wander the museum and look at the documents and stories presented. The Treaty grounds were a perfect place to reflect on us and our place in this country. Shows that much of the political shallow stuff going on right now is shallow and without merit. Intensely relaxing and fulfilling but also intensly political.f

On a chilly but sunny Matariki Sunday I spent a superb afternoon at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. The site of the birth of the Nation is stunningly beautiful in its own right but take the 'Historical Tour' if you want to be transported to times of trading and settlement of Aotearoa from 800 years ago until the present day. Our guide, CeeCee was outstanding; knowledgeable and passionate about the history of the Bay of Islands. She had our adult tour group in the palms of her hands as she told stories of the newcomers to this young land. Thoroughly enjoyed her anecdotes, what a gem!

Great location very interesting tour given by the guide a real insight into the Maori life and times both currently and when the first white settlers arrived . A must if you are in the area

A NZ must-see to try to understand the history, especially if you are foreign like us. This is an excellent site for telling so much of the history of the Maori and European settlers in one place. Very knowledgeable guide and a good system using earpieces so you could wander away to take pictures and still hear what she said. We did the most basic tour, which included a short but entertaining Maori cultural experience. There are also 2 excellent museums on site as well as the homestead, one telling the history of the treaty and the other the price of citizenship. As we were there over Anzac day the latter had particular resonance. We split our visit over 2 days as there was so much to take in and we wanted to do it justice. The entry ticket allows you to do this, which is a really great idea.

What an amazing experience, the grounds, the museums, the guided tour, the cultural experience. Incredibly well done.

Wow ! What an awesome morning we had with tour guide CC at the Waitangi treaty grounds. Cc what a story teller your passion and knowledge was outstanding the way you brought the past alive I felt like I was transported back in time. Your story telling spun all the information together you were confident passionate and humorous. You entwined European and Māori history with such ease and respect. Your Te reo (Māori language) and ability to recall history was very impressive. Thank you for a fabulous morning.

We had a fantastic day out here, great guide, very knowledgeable. Huge museum with lots of information and history. Good paced tour

We went here in February 2024, even though Tripadvisor keeps showing the date as January. This is the 3rd time I have had to do this Review. We selected the Experience Pass which was valid for 2 days and included a guided tour and a Cultural Performance. The guided tour provided headsets, so we were easily able to hear the tour guide at all times. Shane was very good and full of information which he explained clearly. The Cultural Performance was excellent and very well presented with photo opportunities with the performers afterwards.

Our family took the guided tour and our tour guide was absolutely amazing…Ceci (sorry if I misspelled). Her tour was so informative plus engaging and entertaining. The whole family including our preteens learned a lot and felt inspire to learn more. Thank you!

I thought I would learn a little about the Māori culture and see some commercialized dances. Instead, we were treated to a cultural experience with only 5 performers, all with beautiful, strong voices. The performances by these highly talented individuals felt very authentic and personal. The performance was followed by an incredible tour. Our guide Cici was not only knowledgeable about the history of New Zealand, it was obvious she had a deep understanding of the Māori people and their interactions with the foreigners who came to New Zealand. It felt as though we were being led and taught by our favorite college professor. She found out where we were from and then told us how people from our part of the world first came to New Zealand and their roles both positive and negative in New Zealand’s history. I learned so much from her witty narrative! Having experienced other tour guides on our trip to New Zealand, I was nervous I would have a difficult time hearing or understanding what was being said. First, comfortable earphones we passed out, then Cici made sure we could hear and understand her. By the end of the tour, every one in our group was commenting on how they had never had such a great tour guide who imparted so much knowledge in a fun and interesting manner. This experience is a must do when you are near the Bay of Islands! You will leave with a much greater understanding of New Zealand’s past and present.

CC has been a FABULOUS tour guide!!!!! She is widely informed and humorous in her delivery!! She was extremely personable and able to engage with people of such a wide variety of countries!! What a delight as well were her language skills to those in us in her group. I’ve been on this tour several times before as we’ve hosted guests to NZ, but never before with such a well-informed and entertaining guide. Kia ora.

We had felt that $60 entry was steep but read reviews and decided to go. We are so glad we did as it was excellent, a model which could be copied. We had been in some very good free museums so did not resent paying this one time. All tourists should make an effort to learn about the history of the countries they visit and compare it to their own. Our tips would be to go when it opens and is quiet. Book the 1000 guided tour which leads to the excellent cultural show. I volunteered to be the chief - great fun and guarantees a front row seat! If you can, go for the second day, go early again and see everything crowd free.